APTA Members Serve Important Roles in CDC-Funded Falls Prevention Project

Thursday, September 20, 2012

APTA Members Serve Important Roles in CDC-Funded Falls Prevention Project

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently awarded $800,000 to Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health and the University of North Carolina for a 2-year Policies, Programs, and Partners for Fall Prevention (PPPFP) project. APTA member Tiffany E. Shubert, PT, PhD, is a principal investigator for the initiative.

The project addresses the urgent need to identify more effective public health strategies for reducing falls, fall-related injuries, and fall-related rates of emergency room visits among the growing population of seniors. It also will develop strategies and train community health workers in Texas and North Carolina to help raise awareness about falls prevention and refer older adults to evidence-based programs. This includes the evaluation of a training program for physical therapists to understand and implement evidence-based fall prevention and to integrate these efforts with state and national fall prevention policies